Quotes from Scott Lynch

Live snakes? ' said one of the scribes. 'You mean-' 'Yeah,' said Locke. 'They've got scales, they slither around - snakes. Keep up.

The fact Locke didn't die instantly may be taken as proof that a human male can survive having every last warm drop of blood within his body rush instantly to the vicinity of his cheeks.

Sweat, scalded meat, puke, blood, smoke and a dozen kinds of bad ale and wine: the bouquet of civilized nightlife

Said the reeve to the maid who was fresh to the farm 'Let me show you the beasts of the yard!' Here's a cow that gives milk, and a pig that's for ham Here's a cur and a goat and a lamb; Here's a horse tall and proud, and a well-trained old hawk, But the thing you should see is this excellent cock!

Hope is what we all build lives for ourselves upon, is it not?

I'm, uh, going up to the room Ã¢â'¬Â¦ to get ready." "You've got at least four hours before we have to leave." "Yeah, but if I don't start my nervous pacing now, I'll never have it all done in time.

You're a lever and a fulcrum, you two, looking for a city to turn upside down.

Surely you realize," said Patience, "that cats are no great respecters of human opinion.

Crooked Warden, I will fear no darkness for the night is yours. Your night is my cloak, my shield, my escape from those who hunt to feed the noose. I will fear no evil, for you have made the night my friend.

His remorse and better judgment arrived, late as usual, like party guests riding in just after the social disaster of the season has already erupted.

They were your very good friends. Because they're going to teach you that when you kill someone, there are consequences. It is one thing to kill in a duel, to kill in self-defense, to kill for vengeance. It is another thing entirely to kill simply because you are careless. Those deaths are going to hang over your head until you're so careful you make the saints of Perelandro weep.

I'm surprised you agreed to let me pour the wine.

You're a difficult woman, Sabetha. But then, difficult women are the only ones worth falling in love with.

The world is cruel enough without our compounding it;

I have only two wishes," said Jean. "The first is for strong coffee, and the second is for stronger coffee.

It is possible," said Locke with a sheepish grin, "that I have been slightly too bold.

Sad day, my loves, a proper tragedy. But when the milk's gone bad you might as well look forward to cheese, hmm?

I'm speaking of the pursuit of excellence in all things. All things! Presence of mind and devotion to craft. A great artist has these. A great chef. A great master of tea. There's powerful kung fu in a well-built house or an eloquent letter, but the limit of your imagination is bones breaking and bullets flying.

Careful, Sofia," said Don Lorenzo. "Don't teach a sailor to shit in the ocean," she muttered.

Maybe the one real advantage to getting older is that you have the time to pull your head a little bit farther out of your ass.

Not everything that's inevitable is regrettable.

Jean ... you are a greater friend than I ever could have imagined before I met you; I owe you my life too many times over to count. I would rather be dead myself than lose you. Not just because you're all I have left.

If you're going to live here, staying civil is as much a duty as sitting the steps or washing dishes. Now, while I bask in the glow of another moral sermon delivered with the precision of a master fencer, hold your applause and let's get back to last night.

What do you do,' said Jean, 'with, ah, "ungifted" children when you have them?' 'Cherish them and raise them, you imbecile. Most of them end up working for us, in Karthain and elsewhere. What did you think we'd do, burn them on a pyre?' 'Forget I asked